


like sunshine

by PinkHydrangea



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M, Fluff, sort of an idle chat between the two of them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-29 00:28:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13915500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkHydrangea/pseuds/PinkHydrangea
Summary: Ryoma and Setsuna chat about her place in the Hoshidan court. // for seasaltmemories on tumblr





	like sunshine

**Author's Note:**

> Something for seasaltmemories on tumblr, thank you very much! I've never written Ryoma and Setsuna before, but I hope I did so passably.

People don’t talk about Setsuna, because they know Ryoma wouldn’t like that, but they do stare at her. Not as bad as talking about her as a part of idle court gossip, he supposes, but still a little insulting. They stare when she wanders into a meeting ten minutes late because she got lost in the halls, stare when she accidentally pours tea onto Ryoma’s hand instead of into his cup, stare while she plays with her hair and looks out into space.

They find her odd, but Ryoma thinks that she hangs the stars. Even though his hand is currently throbbing because she accidentally slammed it in a door, she’s perfect.

Maybe not a perfect queen, though. An ideal queen, in the mind of the Hoshidan court, is someone who is focused, elegant, and nurturing. She sits back, lets her lord husband (assuming he is the main ruler) do most of the work, and quietly advises him when she’s given the chance. She is warm and motherly to all of Hoshido, and nothing escapes her notice.

Setsuna, however, is scatterbrained and quiet to the point where people might perceive her as standoffish. Ryoma wouldn’t describe her as the most nurturing, but it’s more because she’s too oblivious than anything like she’s being cold. She doesn’t do much by way of advising, and while she is always filled with concern for her country, she doesn’t show it with enough zeal to appease the court. She’s not really one for making policies or negotiating with the courtiers about farmland and taxes.

Yet, in all honesty, Ryoma doesn’t care about that. These postwar times are hectic, but it’s not like they’re at war anymore. Hinoka and Sakura are handling the border rebuilding well, and Ryoma only has to pass small policies regarding taxes and welfare there. Takumi has proven himself able to play the court like a koto in the right situation, and there are less pressing, greedy nobles vying for more land and privileges. Ryoma has always been accustomed to dealing with affairs with ruling, seeing as how Mother groomed him to handle it properly since she took over the throne years ago. It’s not like there’s any great, spectacular need for Setsuna to step up to plate and whip out some groundbreaking foreign policy.

Still, the time  _ might _ come, so he takes it upon himself to prepare his wife at least a little. He’s not about to let a group of stuck-up tutors have their way with Setsuna, so he has a desk set up in the bedroom and teaches her there. He teaches her, in the simplest terms he can manage so that she doesn’t get too bored, about how to handle pushy courtiers, how to consider what the common people want, how to try and come to peaceful compromises, etc.

It all seems to confuse her, though. She scrunches her nose and furrows her brow, looks out the window much of the time, and gets a fair amount of the questions he asks her wrong. As many wonderful qualities as she has about her, Setsuna’s head just isn’t meant for keeping much but daydreams in it.

“I don’t think I’m good at this,” she admits.

Ryoma sighs and puts a cheek in a hand, studying her as she fiddles with the page of a book. “Is anyone, really?”

“You are,” Setsuna replies immediately. “You’re really good at this stuff...”

Flattery; he smiles at her. She’s cute, and he reaches over the desk to push her heavy bangs out of her face. Her eyes shut as she leans her cheek into his hand, and he feels his heart go up in flames of the best kind.

“I have the support of my family,” Ryoma explains. “I hardly think I would be a worthy or able king without any of you. Hinoka and Sakura are healing the border, Takumi is keeping the court off our backs, and you-”

“Daydream,” she says quietly, in a tone that he can’t quite tell if it is flighty or guilty. “I daydream a lot.”

“I find your presence utterly inspiring,” he tells her. “And I don’t care if you’re not everything that the court wants you to be. They have too high of standards, after all, impossible to achieve.”

Setsuna hums and puts her head in a hand as she studies the book again. “Can we stop studying for the day?”

It’s only been half-an-hour, Ryoma almost tells her, but who is he to deny her what she wants?

He shuts the book in front of her and puts it to the side. She follows it with her eyes, then tilts her head, like she’s waiting for him to do something else. He studies her, leans across the table and puts his chin on his arms (very unkingly, he knows, but he can do whatever he wishes in the privacy of his quarters), then waits while she does the same, so that they are practically nose-to-nose as they rest.

“What do you daydream about, my darling Setsuna?” He slowly reaches up and fiddles with a piece of her hair, silky underneath his fingertips.

She shuts her eyes. “Umm… Lots of stuff…”

“Like what?”

“Like… what Lady Hinoka is doing,” she muses quietly. “Or how many pieces of mochi I could fit in my mouth at once…”

Ryoma snorts a little, and it makes her smile.

She continues. “I daydream about… what things might’ve been like if we hadn’t gotten married. Like, what we would both be doing.”

“I see. What an interesting thing to ponder upon. What sorts of things do you come up with, dearest?”

“Well, I think I would’ve kept serving Lady Hinoka,” she murmurs. “And you probably would’ve married someone the court wanted you to. Someone who would be a really good queen or king, right?”

The way she says it isn’t at all bitter or jealous. Setsuna, when she says these things, means none of it in a way like, “Someone better than me, right?” She speaks with a tone that almost speaks of cold logic, or factuality. Ryoma sometimes finds himself wondering if she’s smarter than she lets on, or if she’s just thoughtful to the point of accidental intelligence. It’s not like she’s stupid, after all; he thinks she’s just as smart as she needs to be.

“Well, the court would have certainly pushed me to marry someone they deemed appropriate,” he starts slowly. “Probably someone they’ve groomed since a young age to have a chance at the throne. It likely would’ve been a political marriage.”

“Oh…”

“I think that would’ve been lonely, however,” Ryoma says, eager to smooth the scrunch of her forehead. “I would have missed you.”

“But all that stuff you do in court would’ve been easier, right?” Setsuna presses. “If someone was there to tell you smart stuff.”

“Well, I do think it would be hard regardless,” he replies. “But I know I would’ve enjoyed myself much less without you by my side.”

Setsuna smiles, eyes sparkling, and it’s such a soft, lovely thing. He doesn’t think he will ever grow weary of her smiles, no matter what situation he sees them in. They bring him such joy, and any weight he has on his shoulders always feels like it’s gone right away whenever she looks happy.

“You really like me, don’t you?” she asks.

A little laugh builds in his chest. “I should hope so. I married you.”

“Even though I fall into traps… and the court thinks I’m silly?”

Ryoma reaches over again and cups her cheek in his hand, heart fluttering when she turns her head a little and pushes her lips against the edges of his fingers. “I think you add the most spectacular flare to the dull and daily proceedings, Setsuna.”


End file.
